Shadow Slave

It was growing near, the moment Sunny feared.

He did not really care if Valor won or lost. All he cared about was making sure that there were enough Awakened left alive in the aftermath of the battle to continue defending the siege capitals across Antarctica until the winter solstice.

But for that, he needed Clan Song to be defeated in a swift and decisive fashion. Which didn't seem to be possible anymore... in fact, from what he saw, the most probable result of the battle was the one he had wanted to avoid at all costs- mutual destruction.

The forces of Song were going to win, but the closer they came to victory, the more furiously the warriors of Valor would fight. In the end, it was going to be a massacre.

...Unless Morgan had something planned.

But what could it be?

'Damn it, damn it...'

Sunny could think of only one way to quickly break the tide of the battle - eliminate Beastmaster. But the alluring Saint was hidden from his sight, and so, he couldn't even attempt to attack her.

In the absence of the real target, there was a secondary goal he wanted to achieve. It was not something that his calculating mind had deemed the most beneficial in the current situation, but simply something he desired.

Sunny did not want to see Saint Tyris die.

So, he was intending to help her. Maybe that would force Beasmaster to keep suppressing Sky Tide without switching to other targets, as well...Currently, Sunny was in the very thick of the furious melee between the two armies. There were swords flashing and blood spilling on all sides, the terrible cacophony of the battle assaulting his ears at the same time as the vile ugliness of it all assaulted his eyes. Numerous Aspects were turning the somber Antarctic plain into a feverish nightmare, and the overcast sky was on the verge of unleashing a heavy rain.

In front of him, an Ascended of Clan Song easily cut down a valiant Awakened of Clan Valor. He had noticed her a long time ago as she moved across the battlefield, leaving a trail of blood and death in her wake. The woman's Aspect seemed to do with manipulating blood - a stream of it spiraled around her like a scarlet ribbon, sometimes shooting forward to pierce the heavy armor of her enemies as if it was paper.

Their eyes met for a moment, and then, the Ascended lunged into an attack.

Sunny was faster.

and deflected her sword. A split second later, the blade of the Sin

have slain an

'Waste...'

an abomination's claw to the side, thus saving the life of an Awakened soldier, and grabbed the creature by the neck. It shattered in his

slain

was killed by an enchanted arrow that slid into

'Waste...'

a cohort of Song warriors trying to bar his way - three of them, all covered in blood and with wild looks

grabbing at their ankles. The Sin of Solace flashed three times,

'Such a damned waste!'

through the battlefield, moving with terrible speed. He killed anyone who could slow him, and evaded everyone else. Nevertheless, the shadow he

her sword. Even though Tyris had been denied her Transcendent form, and even though she was continuously withstanding a ruinous mental assault, she was still a Saint - her physical prowess, skill, and judgment

she had a

rebound force to spin and deliver

to the enemy, but right now, they were surrounded from all sides - no matter how

of their heads. He, however, had shadow sense,

have blind spots, and

fight with his eyes closed, if he wished to, while his skin was hard enough to resist most attacks

that he

overwhelmed by a sudden feeling of dread. Sunny did not know the reason for it, but it was as though... as though something inconceivably

No, not indifference... emptiness.

what is

a split second, which gave the enemies an opportunity to

ground suddenly shifted and rose, wrapping around his legs - just like the shadows he had used a dozen seconds ago to immobilize the